Lost in Fallen Leaves

• The wedding is a week and a half away and most things seem to be in order, though I do have an appreciation now for the warnings we'd heard about how busy the last couple weeks before the wedding would be. I think part of the busy-ness is due to the fact that "normal" life doesn't stop or slow down just because you have a wedding coming up. To be sure, we're fortunate to be able to take time off from work the day before and the week after the big event.
  
• One of the things contributing to my state of busy-ness is ongoing freelance work for WotC. Since January, I've worked on several FR and Mirrorstone novels, a Magic: The Gathering novel, and now I've got a re-issue to go over. I find that I'd like to hear something in the way of feedback from the editors with whom I've been working, but since that's not likely to happen (unless perhaps I bungle something terribly) I take comfort in the fact that they keep giving me new assignments -- so I must be doing something right!
  
• Earlier in the year I interviewed for a writer's position in the Communications Office here where I work. The lack of a portfolio that has academic-centered work in it was listed as one reason I didn't get the job. But they want to help me use more of my talents and be happier with my job, so I've been approved to work as a freelance writer for that office while continuing in my current position. I've got three articles to complete between now and May 24th - and the observant person might notice that the wedding and honeymoon fall smack dab in the middle of NOW and THEN. Another factor contributing to the busy-ness....
• GenCon registration briefly contributed to the busy-ness. We long ago bought our passes and made arrangements to stay in Indianapolis with friends Jeff and Marisa, booking a room at one of the hotels attached to the convention center. It seemed to take forever for May 1st-event registration to get here! We thought we'd try some games this year - and a good thing, too, as I found the seminars wildly disappointing (based on last year's experience) - and I have a game-packed schedule, indeed!
  

RPG events: Arneson/Clingman's The Comeback Inn; The Imp Game -- Traps, Mishaps, Mischief & Mayhem!; and the Interaction Game (D&D with no books and no dice); Hickman's Killer Breakfast
BGM events: A Game of Thrones w/ Storm of Swords expansion; Life-Size Kill Dr. Lucky; Settlers of Catan; and the OOTS Adventure
CGM events: Killer Bunnies; Tom Jolly's Trickery
SEM events: Dressing and Undressing your Character: Clothing in the Middle Ages; Hickman's How You Play the Game; Real Feasts: Menus and Entertainment from Medieval Cookbooks; Creating D&D (w/ Arneson, Bledsaw and Maker)
ENT events: the Costume Contest

I'm most excited to finally score LS Kill Dr. Lucky (a CheapAss Game) and Hickman's Killer Breakfast, which I've heard people talk about since before we went to GenCon the first time.

I'd have been happy to make time for writing-focused seminars with Kij Johnson or Brad Beaulieu (or, *nudge, nudge*, Elaine Cunningham), but, alas, such seminars were not included on the schedule.

• Even though I attended Hickman's How You Play the Game last year, I'm looking forward to it again this year, not the least because the campaign I've been involved in for the last three years just ended - unfortunately for my 12th-level wizard Liliana, with a whimper rather than a bang thanks to my unfortunate roll of a 5 at a crucial point in battle. We're talking about getting some other games started, like a short-run evil campaign or a campaign in which all the PCs are clerics (or possibly clerics and paladins). But I do feel the need to rest and be rejuvenated, as well as reminded about what makes an RPG fun.